Web 3 - Too Hot for TV?
Tucker out // Louder (at your wife) with Crowder // Ralpha-male Drama // Sam Hyde’s Fish Tank // Jerry Springer is Dead
Tucker out
It looks like Tucker Carlson got fired from Fox News, and everyone is celebrating for different reasons. Those on the left are celebrating what appears to be the death of Tucker's career and a blow against the galloping rise of populist fascism. AoC even declared that "de-platforming works" in reference to Carlson's ouster, which is both cringe-worthy and profoundly ignorant.
The right was celebrating Tucker becoming unchained from his censorious handlers at Fox. Many were fantasising about what Tucker's next step will be. I subscribe to the idea that he will reach some agreement with Rumble after a short break. From what I can gather about Rumble from Revenge of the Cis' exclusivity contract, the company has the infrastructure and money to bend over backwards for Carson, the biggest newscaster in the world.
This is the most sensible outcome, given Rumble's commitment to growth, YouTube's commitment to ousting right-wing content, and the fact that Dan Bongino (a Rumble exec) was also ousted from his Fox News job weeks back. I don't know how vindictive Carlson is, but Bongino seemingly wants to take the fight to "fake conservatives", and having Carlson make Rumble a household name would be ideal.
I haven't written much about Bongino because his content is considerably tepid but is a benchmark for "acceptable right-wing talking points". Bongino is a career survivor, transitioning from NYPD officer and Secret Service agent to broadcaster following a failed congressional run in 2012. Since then, Bongino has run against incumbent Republicans in 2014 and 2016, losing both times.
Following apparent YouTube censorship of conservative voices in late 2010, Bongino built Rumble, most likely leveraging well-heeled contacts he made during his career. By COVID, Rumble was well positioned to start courting the disaffected right winger, who had felt stifled by YouTube's misinformation policies. Unfortunately for Bongino, it was around this time he received a stage 4 cancer diagnosis. Bongino beat cancer in 2021 after receiving surgery and radiotherapy while continuing to broadcast. That being said, while Bongino’s lymphoma is in remission, there are unanswered questions about whether the cancer metastasised, so he will likely be under observation for the next five years.
Bongino’s brush with death is significant, especially when set against the backdrop of a global pandemic. Quite frankly, Bongino strikes me as the sort of man that fights harder when his back is up against the wall. Although he has received the all-clear, there are still lingering doubts that cancer won’t suddenly take him as he moves into his 50s. In this post-pandemic era, the time is right for Bonjino to make some serious plays, if for no other reason than to secure his family’s future when he goes. Tucker might just be God’s gift handed to him on a golden platter.
All that being said, Tucker could build his network. The “Carlson News Network” would likely follow the template set out by Glen Beck’s Blaze TV, Anthony Cumia’s Compound Media, or Luiz J Gomez’s GAS digital - in that Tucker would be the boss (and chief content creator), but would build himself a coalition of supporting ‘acts’ to help distribute the tone of the network's content. This is a fun idea, and Tucker is certainly wealthy enough to make it work, as Luis J Gomez has done with far less money behind him than Tucker has.
However, it is a question of legwork. Both Luis J Gomez and Anthony Cumia are constantly “on”, always trying to develop and sell their podcast network while also courting controversy in a way which suits their chaotic lifestyles. Tucker does not strike me as the ”chaotic lifestyle” kind of guy, trading on his ability to “pull no punches” and “tell it like it is” (which ultimately seems to be the reason for his sacking from Fox). He could follow in Glenn Beck’s footsteps, stepping away from the mic (save one podcast a week) and turning more to the talent management side of the business. However, Bill O’Riley should serve as a cautionary tale in this endeavour. O’Riley went from being the biggest thing at Fox to a literal nobody on the podcast circuit.
Louder (at your wife) with Crowder
Stephen Crowder is fast becoming an Alt-Con lolcow after a video surfaced of Crowder being incredibly emotionally abusive towards his wife, Hilary, when she was heavily pregnant with twins a few years back. This comes just days after it was revealed that the Crowders had been in a messy divorce since 2021 and a week after Dave Landow, Louder with Crowder 3rd mic, revealed some of the seemingly punitive contractual issues which caused him to step away from the show.
Mersh and Royce, Revenge of the Cis, have been quite consistent in claiming that Stephen is most likely highly manipulative, controlling and sociopathic after it was discovered that previous Lowder with Crowder co-hosts, “not gay” Jared and Sven Computer, suddenly left the show under the shadow of an NDA. The revelations from Landow went part way to confirming Mersh and Royce’s accusations, with Landow claiming that under the new contract, Crowder would dock an entire day’s pay if Landow was more than 15 minutes late for work and that Landow was expected to move his entire family closer to the studio, without any relocation costs reimbursed.
Landow’s revelations were an absolute bombshell for Crowder, who turned down a contract worth $50mil earlier this year from the Daily Wire over what he considered to be punitive clauses. Crowder subsequently went to war with ”Big Con” to save face, burning bridges with those over the Daily Wire. The Landow revelations were like blood in the water to a pool of hungry sharks on Twitter. Mersh, leveraging this new attention on Crowder, took a moment to accuse the seemingly pious conservative figurehead of hiding a divorce.
Internet sleuths did their thing and discovered the Crowder’s divorce filing. Crowder confirmed the document's authenticity and that Hilary divorced him in 2021. Rather, Stephen asserted that he had been living through an increasingly “horrendous divorce”, although there had been no physical abuse or infidelity. Crowder states that she didn’t want to be married anymore, which is permitted in Texas. Mersh, Royce, and a few others picked up on Crowder’s weird phrasing, which made it seem like the new mother of twins suddenly decided to up sticks and leave for no reason. They speculated that Crowder was making things difficult in the divorce, given his phrasing that Texas allowed such a divorce.
Then, footage from the Crowder’s Ring doorbell system was released to the public, supposedly from members of Hilary’s family. The footage is damning, uncomfortable, and a little confusing. The footage begins in the middle of an argument where Stephen informs a heavily pregnant Hilary that she cannot take the family car to go grocery shopping because it would leave him stranded. Revenge of the Cis places the footage around when Stephen was recovering from surgery to reinforce his sunken chest with titanium bars. In the footage, Stephen is heard informing a 7-8 month pregnant Hilary that she needs to step up her “wifely” duties, which is left ambiguous and can be inferred to mean maintaining and managing the household. The point made by Mersh and Royce was that Stephen makes enough money to hire help if that is what his family needs at that time.
Hilary then tells Stephen she loves him, but they are at an impasse. He agrees they are at an impasse but informs her that he does not love her because she uses “I love you” to shirk household responsibilities. Crowder then tells Hilary that she needs to “put on the gloves…and walk the dog” before accusing her of being “not committed to anything”. In a live stream, Joshua Moon suggested that Stephen’s dog was on some kind of veterinary medicine which could have posed a risk to pregnant women. If true, it appears that Crowder felt that Hilary would only show “commitment” if she were willing to put herself and the unborn twins at risk just to walk the dog.